One Royal Oak campaign kicks off Tuesday

One Royal Oak will kick off a campaign to educate voters on fairness and equality from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday at Pronto!, 608 Washington Blvd. in Royal Oak. Lending help are, left to right, Kyle DuBuc, Royal Oak Mayor Jim Ellison, One Royal Oak campaign manager Allison VanKuiken, and Pronto! General Manager Carmen Young. (For the Daily Tribune/TOM WATTS)

Educating voters on fairness and equality is the backbone behind a campaign by One Royal Oak that kicks off Tuesday.

Allison VanKuiken, campaign manager for One Royal Oak, said the event will be held from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday at Pronto! restaurant, 608 Washington Blvd. in Royal Oak.

“The campaign kickoff is a public event to inform residents, community leaders and business owners on why having a human rights ordinance in the city is important and why it needs to pass,” VanKuiken said Thursday. “Our educational campaign will educate voters on fairness and equality. We want to make sure it’s clear and that misinformation is not given.”

In November, voters in Royal Oak will be asked if they want to keep the changes to the human rights ordinance, VanKuiken said, and whether voters want to be inclusive and provide fairness and equality or roll back the decision made by the Royal Oak City Commission.

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“That is the question: fairness for all or keep the status quo,” VanKuiken said. “Individuals can be fired from their jobs or not given housing accommodations just for who they are if they are gay or transgender.”

VanKuiken said much work needs to be done to educate voters on the issue.

“We are going to build a coalition of residents in the community, knock on doors, talk to voters, and will be available to answer questions by engaging in the community, person to person,” VanKuiken said. “We will educate voters on the phone and explain what the human rights ordinance is, what it does and what it does not do.

“A human rights ordinance will expand protection to end workplace discrimination, (and) public housing discrimination, because you can be fired for perceived being gay. Voters will have that decision.”

Currently, there are 22 cities in Michigan that have a human rights ordinance, including Birmingham, Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge.

“The key is we have to get the right information out, to end fear mongering,” Royal Oak Mayor Jim Ellison said Friday. “To get people to understand what it is and what it does.”

VanKuiken said Michigan is among 29 states where you can still be fired on the spot just for being gay, and 35 states if you’re transgender.

Royal Oak put a human rights ordinance into place in March, but another group passed a petition to have the issue put on the ballot, Ellison said.

“The ordinance is written,” Ellison said, “now voters must decide if they want to implement the ordinance. (And) Tuesday is a way to get the right information out and raise money to get the campaign going.”

While employment laws (Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act) exist on the books to protect workers on the basis of race, gender and religion, no such protections exist for employees who are singled-out for their sexual orientation and gender identity, VanKuiken said.

“It’s not really fair,” VanKuiken said. “There is incredible talent in the gay community. It is depriving businesses the opportunity to have gay people working for them. The governor wants to keep talented people in the state, but without a human rights ordinance it is sending people out of the state.

“Quality and fairness is real high up there, and to be simply fired for who you are and they will go to cities and states where they have those protections,” VanKuiken said. “Making sure Michigan is attractive to all people is just fair. In today’s tough economic climate, we should be helping people keep their jobs, not firing them because they are gay or transgender.”

The group One Royal Oak is made up of concerned citizens inside and outside Royal Oak, and includes Equality Michigan and Affirmations in Ferndale.